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Interior head says new offshore drilling moratorium on its way

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Federal Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters in Malibu today that the Obama Administration will announce a new ban on offshore oil drilling in the next few days.

A federal appeals court recently threw out the moratorium federal officials proposed following the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. Salazar said the moratorium was right when the administration suggested it, and it's right now.

"The president and I strongly believe that we ought not to be moving forward with deep water drilling till we can assure that it's going to be safe," Salazar said. "‘Til we can assure that there is a right containment strategy in place in case there's another blowout and until we can assure that we have the right level of oil response capability."

Salazar predicted imminent progress on controlling the spill in the Gulf. He added that as long as BP and other companies are unable to control the gushing well, evidence grows that those companies should temporarily stop drilling in deep waters.